While there's been anecdotal evidence floating around for a long time that exercise can help women achieve sexual satisfaction, a new study's gone and proved it; exercising the core abdominal muscles alone can bring females to orgasm.

The research, conducted by Debby Herbenick from Indiana University (who's also a regularGizmodocontributor), shows that these exercise-induced orgasms are most regularly associated with abdominal exercises, climbing poles or ropes, biking and weight lifting. Digging down into the data reveals that 20 per cent of women who experience orgasm brought about by exercise can't control their experience, and the majority of them "were not fantasizing sexually or thinking about anyone they were attracted to during their experiences".

Herbenick explains that the mechanism behind exercise-induced orgasms are unclear—but that such exercise may have an impact on the sex lives of those who experience the phenomenon. "It may be that exercise — which is already known to have significant benefits to health and well-being — has the potential to enhance women's sexual lives as well," she explained to Medical Express. The research is set to appear in Sexual and Relationship Therapy.